Why David Petraeus should have read the Torah

From aish.com
Another scandal involving a powerful man brought down and destroyed because of an affair with a woman he had spent an inordinate amount of time with. General David Petraeus, at the height of his career, former general and the head of the CIA, has admitted to an affair with a married woman who traveled extensively with him while writing his biography.

This type of self-destruction is almost a cliché by now, but it still shocks us. How can a man with such great integrity, a role model for the nation, end up ruining his career and causing such pain to his family by stumbling into an affair?

When I became observant and entered the Torah observant world, I was struck by the marked sense of separation and formality between the sexes.Men and women avoided mixing, and as one man quipped to my husband: “No wonder your marriages last longer, you go to a wedding and check your spouse at the door. “ Colleagues are not referred to by their first names. The more formal title “Rabbi” or “Mrs.” is used, creating a healthy distance and professional interaction in the workplace.

The laws of yichud (seclusion) forbid a man from being alone with a woman who is not his wife.